We’re all in this together: WWF reaffirms commitment to securing the future of the Coral Triangle

WWF has reaffirmed its ongoing commitment to support the Coral Triangle Initiative on Coral Reefs, Fisheries and Food Security (CTI-CFF). This came as part of the proceedings of the CTI-CFF’s 2nd Regional Priorities Workshop held in Manado, North Sulawesi last month.

WWF recognized the importance of strengthening its engagement with the CTI-CFF at regional and national levels to help achieve conservation goals in the Coral Triangle region.

The workshop, hosted by the Government of Indonesia, was attended by approximately 140 people from the six Coral Triangle countries, development and implementation partners, and other key stakeholders. WWF was represented by senior officers from WWF-Indonesia, WWF-US, and the WWF Coral Triangle Programme.

Setting priorities for the next 3 years

As part of the process to identify partner and stakeholder support for the priority actions identified for the period 2013-2016, WWF confirmed its ongoing support for the implementation of a number of key CTI-CFF regional priority actions including some new actions identified at the workshop.

However, WWF and the other development partners stressed an important step required by the member governments is ratification of the CTI-CFF that will bring into being a Permanent Regional Secretariat. Partners stressed that the quick establishment of the Permanent Regional Secretariat is a critical ingredient in accomplishing the proposed Regional Priority Actions.

The regional priorities which WWF has committed to support, and which are also important strategies in WWF’s own Coral Triangle Programme include: tapping potential new collaborations for tuna management; mobilizing financial resources for priority seascape programmes and Marine Protected Areas (MPAs); increasing focus on coastal fisheries; conducting ongoing work for the Live Reef Food Fish Trade and Ecosystem-based Fisheries Management; conducting conservation planning for several priority threatened species; implementing the Climate Change Adaptation (CCA) Marketplace and building skill and know-how to access CCA Marketplace for project funding; and providing ongoing support to the CTI-CFF interim Regional Secretariat for the Coral Triangle Regional Business Forum and Coral Triangle Fishers Forum.

The CTI-CFF interim Regional Secretariat will finalize the Regional Priorities Workshop Activity Report and prepare a Decision Memo for approval by the Council of Senior Officials in the next Senior Officials Meeting proposed for later in 2013.

Regional collaboration at work

The CTI-CFF is a real example of a political platform and regional framework under which governments, private sector, civil society, donors, and development partners have come together to collectively aim for the sustainable management of marine resources in the Coral Triangle.

Throughout the Asia Pacific region, there is mounting recognition by governments, industry, and communities of the importance of protecting the Coral Triangle and the need for transformative change – the kind of change that will see globally-significant habitats and species protected, sustainable patterns of use achieved, climate change and human security connections addressed, resource management systems aligned, and investments in sustainable management secured.

CTI-CFF development partners such as the Global Environment Facility (GEF), Asian Development Bank (ADB), the United States and Australian Governments, and the International NGOs, CI, TNC and WWF have also included CTI-CFF goals in their own programmes and strategies, enabling them to interact in a regional manner and harness appropriate resources for this regional endeavour.

WWF and the CTI-CFF

Since the formalization of the CTI-CFF in 2009, WWF has had a significant programme of work closely aligned to support implementation of the CTI-CFF Regional and National Plans of Action (RPOA and NPOAs). The WWF Coral Triangle Program was developed to be innovative and help generate transformational actions needed for the sustainable use and protection of oceans, coasts and marine resources.

Our approach is through mobilizing and facilitating collaboration among the various stakeholders so that they co-invest and share responsibilities for building blue economies that combine the protection of high-priority places with the reduction of unsustainable practices and the promotion of social and economic equity and environmental sustainability.

WWF’s work focuses on securing the health of the Coral Triangle region’s natural resources and the livelihoods that depend on them by collaborating with businesses, governments, and communities to ensure proper environmental, political, and socioeconomic management is put in place that will support the development of blue economies.

WWF is also one of the seven formal development partners to the CTI-CFF and this has enabled us to work closely with the partners, the six Coral Triangle governments and the interim Regional Secretariat to help shape the CTI-CFF, participate in the development and implementation of the RPOA and NPOAs, provide expertise and technical input to the thematic and working groups, and participate on National Coordinating Committees.

Another key role for WWF is in helping to mobilize financial resources for the implementation of the RPOA and NPOAs. The USAID was the first donor to make a major investment of funds to the CTI-CFF with nearly USD 42 million committed over the past five years under the Coral Triangle Support Partnership. However, this programme is coming to a close this year, and the ADB and GEF-funded programme “Strengthening Coastal and Marine Resources Management in the Coral Triangle” is nearing its midway mark.

Looking to the future of the CTI-CFF, WWF is exploring the potential for a major new oceans programme for GEF funding with a focus on MPAs for fisheries productivity, livelihoods, and food security. If successful, it would become the main enabling condition for the integration of fisheries improvement and conservation in the Coral Triangle for the next five years and for influencing significant new investments into the region.